Falcons pay for dinner in full despite Panthers insistence it is their treat

Atlanta Falcons 25

Carolina Panthers 17

With the ice cream half melted and all the sprinkles eaten, the Atlanta Falcons slammed their debit card down on the table at Bank Of America Stadium and announced their intention to pay for the Carolina Panthers meal on Thursday night. With chocolate still smeared around their mouth, the Panthers insisted that this was not necessary and THEY, in fact, would be paying for both meals. After a brief stare-down, the Dirty Birds stomped on the foot of the Cardiac Cats and made a run for the front counter, debit card and discount voucher in hand. With a clear line of sight to the counter, they stumble face first to the carpet, rug burn a mere certainty. Battered but fighting on, Carolina made a break for El Dorado. Attempting to leapfrog Atlanta they couldn't quite make the landing, crashing into a nearby kids table, knocking over the sippy-cups of all four NFC East teams. Realising their victory, the Atlanta Falcons got up, brush themselves off and make their way to the counter. After squabbling over Bank Of America Stadium's inability to accept a cheque, the Falcons paid for both meals. Expired discount voucher accepted in full, they walk out on to the street with their heads held high and look for the nearest bus stop.

A strong showing by the Atlanta Falcons offense in general, but they struggled when it mattered most, kicking four red zone field goals and keeping the Carolina Panthers within striking distance all night. Julio Jones was on pace for a historical night, catching four balls for 85 yards in the Falcons first 10 offensive plays. He finished with 137 yards on seven grabs, a so-so night for the future gold jacket wearer and bronze bust haver. Todd Gurley tried his mightiest to sabotage from within for a second straight week, running out of bounds to stop the clock with three minutes remaining on a third and long run. Atlanta's win will erase that error, but you can't blame Falcons fan for squinting at Gurley late in close games henceforth.

Carolina is fine. New coach, easy to root for QB, interesting offense and a young defense. 2020 wasn't going to be the Panthers Lombardi year, but winning games and showing competency is closer to a LSD trip then reality for some teams in the New Jersey swamp lands region. With CMC out the offense looked up and down, but it's not like their dad went out for a cigarette 12 years ago and never came home, he'll be back in a few weeks and the questions about the new scars on his arm are for another day.

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- Donte Jackson picking off Matt Ryan and immediately claiming his spot on the Falcons bench was a heartwarming decision I hope will be adopted league wide.

- Anyone with a brief understanding of the Falcons last four years as an NFL franchise thought Carolina was taking this in an overtime heart breaker. New dawn on the horizon? Or another set of headlights ready to run 'em down?

- Teddy Bridgewater was nice enough to have a few plays off after visiting the chiropractor mid-play. Someone should check Charles Harris paperwork though, didn't seem like a standard cervical manipulation to me.